We’re better off now, right?
Nearly 170 years ago (1854) tragedy struck Carroll County in the Spring of that year - a severe epidemic of Cholera ravaged the community. Residents having just struggled through an intense drought suspected contamination of their food supply. This acute infectious disease of the intestines infected half of the town! Emotions of fear and desperation swept over the area with many a brave soul attempting all types of remedy. As I reference in my book, “Oh! Susannah”, Jessica Custer mentioned how Daniel Rice was in charge of burning blue sulfurous lights in the streets in Carrollton to serve as a disinfectant to ward off cholera. His efforts were well-intentioned but futile, other than doing something “mysterious” like this, had many of the residents believing that this would be an effective antidote to the deadly disease.
Cholera was a plague that induced fear and death. 156 people had perished from it by October of that year, John Arbuckle, the local legend and early primitive road surveyor, being one of them. Fear of dying from exposure to cholera was so great that by the Fall of 1854, a mass grave was dug in a local cemetery where all but four of the fatalities were buried en masse; nobody wanted to come in contact with them.
With the advancements in medicine, we now know that cholera is a water born disease that can be prevented by ensuring our water supply is kept pure. That’s right. The outdoor “dunnies” have to be moved further away from the well! And yet, how many times over the ages have scourges such as cholera wiped out large numbers of the population, even going back as far as The Black Plague and, of course, as recent as Covid? Yes, I got covid, once “officially” and maybe a time or two thereafter. And, I’m thankful to have lived through that pandemic, many others were not as lucky. The flip side of my covid quarantine meant that I was forced to do nothing more than read, research, and write the next chapter of “Oh! Susannah”, kind of forcing me to “get this done!”
But, are we better off now than those who lived in Carrollton during that Spring through Autumn of 1854? Do you also want to start an argument instantly in a mixed public gathering by using a three-year old sore point? Bring up the subject of mandatory masks and covid! This will do it every time. Throw in the effects of climate change and you’re sure to have a verbal brawl, but I digress. Below is a recent link advising us of yet another wave of covid washing over the country. I know of three people at present who are suffering from the latest strain. Ok, we don’t have half of our town suffering from the effects of covid, thank God, but isn’t Covid 19 like so 2020? There are people I know who have not received the first or second vaccine and now, we’re talking about getting the country mostly immunized a third time? It would be so reassuring if today’s advancements in medicine came up with a final and lasting cure for covid, something simple like the “move the dunny further away”approach, but that’s not being realistic. My concern is like the cure for cancer, we’ll be addressing the next wave of covid and their associated vaccines for years to come. We’re better off now, right?
Take a moment to click on the link and get up to speed with when is the suggested best time to get the latest jab and then click on to my website and learn more about the lives and times of those from our families who lived during the 19th century and with all of its challenges.
https://www.nytimes.com/article/covid-booster-fall.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20230818&instance_id=100401&nl=from-the-times®i_id=112991263&segment_id=142395&te=1&user_id=4ef8a4c1d901dbc51973395366b86e73
www.beckleysbooks.com